About three years ago I wrote a piece around nutrition, including a clear preference for a high fat, high-ish protein diet.
My current stance on food is quite different. Without going into depth too much (it varies for each person), here are a few thoughts.
With nutrition, as with breath and training, the main focus for me is to down-regulate stress (which I feel is usually mis-understood), and facilitate energy production at a cellular level.
Much of my thoughts on nutrition changed after heavy burnout, high LDL cholesterol readings, low white blood cells, poor energy, bouts of anxiety, depression and more from following variations of paleo, low carb, low-carb/high fat, fasting etc for 6-8 years.
I started with the work of Hans Selé on Stress, the work of Dr. Broda Barnes, Dr. Ray Peat and others on thyroid, health and energy production.
Fasting, high fat, HFLC now make very little sense to me, as from a physiological level it appears they all elevate stress hormones (fasting perhaps the most).
So, dietary macronutrient preference based on preferred brain/muscle fuel types, stress down-regulation, recovery, repair, digestion and other factors:
- Adequate proteins (broths, collagen, some meat, some dairy) and sugars (fruits, lactose for some)
- Saturated Fats (protective)
- Starches where required (root vegetables)
Meals are typically balanced (the amount of each macro matters) and food frequency is important, as I look to down-regulate stress through managing blood sugar levels. Whole foods are preferable, prioritising easy digestion seems to be helpful (ripe fruits, cooking unripe fruits, over-cooking starches etc)
Polyunsaturated fats, vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils, nut oils, nuts etc do not make my list of preferred foods.
Though optimising hormones, we see improved sleep and mood, improved health and body composition, better recovery and more.
